


Held in Azkaban

by SnowedInAgain



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowedInAgain/pseuds/SnowedInAgain
Summary: The war is over, and the light side has won, only for Harry to be thrown back into another battle for his life.
Kudos: 2





	Held in Azkaban

**Author's Note:**

> Harry Potter is not mine! I just play in J.K. Rowling's sandbox. Everyone's alive except Dumbledore (he can fix things too easily, then where's the story?). Not the same ending as the original. Just my puttering.

Harry leaned his head on the back of his chair and let out a slow breath. A gentle summer breeze drifted through the window and stirred his wild black hair. Closing his eyes, he allowed the still foreign feeling of peace to wash over him. A bark of laughter caused him to open his eyes and look over to where Sirius and Remus were filling out ministry forms delivered upon Mr. Weasley`s return home. Adoption forms. His adoption.

“Look Moony, there`s a blank right here for you. You can be Harry`s mum! R. E. M.-"

“Sirius, really,” Remus batted Sirius`s quill off the parchment. “They just freed you a week ago, do you want to return for insanity?”

Harry smiled softly and turned his gaze back to the window. Yes, Sirius was finally free. After the battle at Malfoy Mansion, Pettigrew`s body had been found among the dead. In return for taking veritaserum and recounting Pettigrew`s true allegiance, several captured Death Eaters traded death by poison for a lifetime in Azkaban.

…and here he sat now, in the Weasley`s living room with his only discomforts being the bandages wrapped around the wounds on his arms and the lingering weakness and shakiness from the multiple Cruiciatus Curses he had endured during the fight. He had to admit, as he carefully sipped from a mug of tea with both hands, Bellatrix was quite a talented witch.

Hermione watched Harry from her seat next to the coffee table, where Ron concentrated furiously on his next chess move. She frowned slightly as she eyed Harry`s shaking arms. “How are you feeling Harry?”

Harry flashed her an innocent smile over the rim of his cup. “I`m fine Hermione, just tired.”

Remus stood and stretched, leaving Sirius to the rest of the forms. His gaze followed Hermione`s concerned look and spotted the same thing she had. He made his way around Ron, who had finally made his move (Check, Hermione. Take that!) and settled on his knees in front of his former student. Placing Harry`s mug on the table, Remus held out his hands, palms up, in front of Harry with a gentle smile. Harry returned the smile with a small huff and a roll of his eyes. He placed his trembling hands in Remus`s and squeezed with all the strength he had.

Remus tilted his head to the side, clearly unaffected by Harry`s attempt to squish the life from his hands. “Better,” said Remus after a moment`s thought. Harry relaxed his grip and let out another huff, his hands flopping onto his legs. “But not back to normal,” he finished for Remus. Remus hadn`t released his own grip when Harry had lowered his arms. He gave Harry`s hands a gentle squeeze. “Not yet, pup.” He looked into Harry`s eyes, which were rimmed with purple. “Hard night?” He asked quietly. Harry looked down at their hands and nodded slightly. Remus tightened his grip again comfortingly. Even though Voldemort was dead, the nightmares had not ended.

Yes, Voldemort was dead. Finally dead. Harry stared unseeingly into his lap as he recalled the battle still fresh in his mind….

“Harry?” Remus broke through Harry`s thoughts. “It`s over now. It`s all over. You`re done.”

Harry looked back up into Remus`s golden, smiling eyes. This was clearly the happiest he had ever seen the werewolf. He had been filled with a quiet happiness when the war had ended, and he seemed to have received new life when Sirius had been freed. Harry couldn`t help smiling as well as he looked at Remus. He could be a normal kid for the one year of Hogwarts he had left. Sirius could go back to playing jokes on Remus, and Remus could wake up every day to see his best friend. No more hiding. No more worrying. Harry let out a slow breath, always relaxing far more than he ever thought possible when these happy thoughts crossed his mind. He looked over at Sirius, now rereading every last adoption form to make sure they were free of mistakes, and back down at Remus, who was still happily holding Harry`s hands in his own.

*BOOM*

The two were suddenly rocketed into the air by a massive explosion gutting open the back wall of the living room. Harry somehow somersaulted over Remus and was slammed into the opposite wall separating the kitchen. His head cracked painfully against the floor before Remus hit the ground beside him, rolling so fast into Harry`s side that the wind was knocked from both of them. Lights blinked across Harry`s vision as he squinted over Remus through the heavy cloud of dust. He could hear someone screaming and the blast of curses being thrown in every direction, accompanied by the flash of wand light. Remus pulled himself to his knees and blindly reached behind him for Harry before putting up a shield. The bubble of magic repelled the constant rain of debris from the nearby fight. “What? How?” Harry gasped as stars danced across his vision. He flinched as Remus pulled him up to a crouch, pressing him back into the wall with his own body. 

“Death Eaters,” Remus panted. His wand arm shook as the chair Harry was previously sitting in crashed against the shield. “How did they make it past Arthur`s wards? I hope nothing happened to-Harry, no!” He caught Harry by the arm as he freed himself from behind Remus and made a dash into the fight. Harry growled in frustration as his arm was jerked backwards, “We have to help, Remus! There must be loads of them!”

“No, Harry. You`re not going anywhere,” Remus pulled Harry back against him. Harry struggled weakly against Remus`s hold, but his physical strength far outweighed Harry`s after the effects of the final battle. “I`m keeping you safe, Pup,” he said over the rumble of the attack. Harry`s arms shook feebly as he clutched at Remus, staring into the cloud desperately. Without thinking, he had his own wand clutched in his hand.

Dark figures were gradually becoming visible through the swirl of dust as the fighting made its way towards the kitchen. Remus tightened his hold on Harry and turned to place his own body closer to the attack. Harry craned his neck and made out the back of Sirius`s long, silky hair as he was forced backwards through the haze towards them, dueling two Death Eaters at once. “Where is Potter?” a burly Death Eater shouted. Sirius`s bark-like laugh danced above the hexes the masked pair was throwing at him. Sirius loved battle, Harry could see his steady wand arm swishing gracefully through the air in complex movements to block oncoming spells, then lunge on the offensive with a predatorial smile toward his opponents. 

Harry was tugged out of his trance as Remus pulled him toward the kitchen door. “C`mon, Harry. We`re getting out of here before they notice you.” A shot of panic jolted Harry into another struggle against Remus`s arms, “We can`t leave Sirius,” he gasped. 

“Harry-”

There was a flash and a screech before a small figure with a pile of dusty hair was thrown out of the melee and landed face down on the scratched floorboards.

“Hermione!”

With his attention drawn to Hermione`s fallen frame, Remus only saw a small blur of movement before the living room sofa flew into his shield, knocking him and Harry backwards yet again. The two were separated in the fall, and Harry took the chance to roll away from his protector as he hit the ground. Ignoring Remus`s shout, Harry dove into the cloud of soot shrouding the Death Eaters responsible for hurting Hermione. Wand held protectively in front of him, Harry stumbled blindly through the dust. Fighting bodies swirled around him, lost in a deadly dance of curses and counterattacks. He heard Sirius`s bark of laughter coming from what used to be the back door. Grinning, Harry sprinted in said direction, vaulting over the upturned coffee table that appeared out of the cloud.

Weakened or not, Harry was still a deadly duelist. His first spell made contact with the second of Sirius`s opponents, who dropped, unconscious to the floor. With a roar of rage another Death Eater took his fellow`s place, and Harry was drawn into the duel shoulder to shoulder with Sirius.

“Are the others alright?” Harry shouted, throwing up a shield in time for a curse aimed at Sirius`s face to ricochet off and set the coffee table ablaze.

“They`re outside,” Sirius shouted back, his face a picture of concentration as his fight became close range. Making his way within reaching distance of his opponent, he ducked under a spell and punched him in the face, followed by a swift kick to the stomach that knocked the Death Eater to the floor, curled in a moaning heap. “I`ve been holding them off if they make it into the Burrow,” he panted. He cast a stunning spell at the moaning Death Eater, who immediately fell silent. He looked up at Harry with his wand at the ready, his child-like glee changing to mature sternness, “They`re looking for you Harry, get back to Grimmauld Place. You aren`t strong enough to be here. Let us handle this.”

“I won`t let Death Eaters attack the Burrow and get away with it-” he was cut off with a gasp as something ice cold shot across his middle. He dropped to his knees in pain as the ice became fire.

Sirius`s eyes went wide as a lethal steel blade appeared from behind his godson and slashed across his stomach. “Harry!” He ran toward him but stopped short as Harry fell to his knees, revealing the squat Death Eater who was standing behind him, blade poised to make a deadly blow if Sirius came any closer.

“Carrow,” Sirius spat, his wand arm hung useless as his eyes darted from Harry`s bowed head to the blade. “It`s seems you`ve missed the memo. Voldemort`s dead. Your side lost. Now get out of here before I make you.”

Carrow`s sick grin widened at Sirius`s words. “The Dark Lord has indeed fallen. Since you now have no more need for Potter, give him to us.”

Sirius growled deep in his throat “Over my dead-”

*Thunk*

Carrow went cross-eyed and fell backward, his knife clattering to the floor. Remus stepped over him, gripping his wand in one hand and the handle of a large saucepan in the other. “I thought I heard someone come through the front door,” he said thoughtfully. “It`s so hard to see in here.”

“Harry`s hurt, Remus,” Sirius moved to kneel in front of Harry, who has both hands pressed into his stomach. Remus put up another shield, on the lookout for more Death Eaters, as Sirius pulled at Harry`s hands to inspect the wound. His hands came away bloody to reveal a deep gash spreading a dark stain across his shirt. Sirius grimaced. “It`s bad, Remus. We need to get him out of here. Harry, can you stand?”

Gritting his teeth, Harry rose from the floor with an arm around Sirius. He stooped with a gasp of pain, almost bent double, as the wound stretched with his upright posture. Sirius helped him take wobbly steps in the direction of the kitchen, headed toward the apparition point on the front lawn. Remus continued to cover the pair as he spoke over his shoulder. “Sirius the wards must be down. It`s the only way the Death Eaters could have broken through. You can side-along from here. I`ll follow you.”

Sirius gave a nod and shifted to get a steady grip on Harry in order to apparate.

With an earsplitting crack sounding from above, the floor of the Burrow began to shake. Sirius found himself on his knees as Harry toppled into him and lost his balance. With a glance at Remus, the two marauders stared up at the ceiling where a terrible creaking noise was accompanied by a spidering crack slowing growing in the off-white plaster.

Bill suddenly plunged through the dust, brandishing his wand, the side of his face bloodied. “Get out of here! The ceiling is about to-”

With a moan, the Burrow collapsed in on itself, opening the crack in the ceiling to a gaping hole. Plaster rained down from above. Sirius was quick enough to fling himself over Harry before the plummeting contents of the upper floors plunged them into darkness.


End file.
